Danes return from pause, fall on road
Ualbany rallies for lead in fourth before fading
After going 16 days without a game because of its fourth COVID-19 pause of the season, the University at Albany women’s basketball team returned to the court Monday afternoon, losing an America East Conference game at Stony Brook 58-46.
This game and Tuesday afternoon’s matchup between the teams mean nothing in the standings, as seedings for the conference tournament already are set.
Ualbany (6-9, 5-6) is locked in as a No. 4 seed and will play host to fifth-seeded New Hampshire in a tournament quarterfinal at 5 p.m. Sunday at SEFCU Arena. Stony Brook (12-5, 10-3) is seeded second and has a bye into the semifinals.
The Great Danes rallied from a 13-point third-quarter deficit to take a 43-42 lead in the fourth quarter, but the Seawolves finished the game on a 16-3 run.
“In the second and fourth quarter we were fatigued,” Ualbany coach Colleen Mullen said, “but we battled and competed.”
The Danes outscored the Seawolves 33-23 in the first and third quarters, but it was 35-16 for Stony Brook in the other two quarters.
Helene Haegerstrand led Ualbany in scoring with 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the field.
“After numerous pauses and having to go on the road, after three days of practice, and to play Stony Brook the way we did, it shows the character and resilience of this team,” Mullen said. “Kayla Cooper (eight points, four rebounds) came in and gave us a huge spark off the bench, and Helene Haegerstrand had a nice game for us. We did a good job getting stops, but we are going to need a higher level of execution in the game (Tuesday).”